This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

We all tend to believe what we want to believe for many reasons, few of which have anything to do with facts. Emotions guide us more than we admit but we are quick to try to justify our unsupported beliefs with assertions masked as fact. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in feelings that facts are abandoned, but that is no way to choose political candidates.

Reader Darren Johnson ("Dump Clinton, too," Aug. 17) clearly believes and declares that Hillary Clinton has a "long record of corruption," is "crooked and unprincipled," is "unfit for office" and "puts herself above the law." In addition, he declared the entire Democratic Party has "no values, no principles, no message that can be trusted." Really?

Everything I have learned about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party would refute Johnson's broad brush verbiage. The emotional fervor to condemn Hillary and the Democratic Party is a dangerous base from which to choose candidates. Let reason return and stop abandoning facts!

Mary Johnson

Salt Lake City